States must ensure the smooth movement, including inter-state travel, of all medical professionals, paramedic staff, sanitation personnel and ambulances during the lockdown to control the nationwide spread of coronavirus, the government said today.

Obejecting to the restrictions imposed by some states on the movement on health workers, the Union Home Ministry said they are vital to healthcare services. The ministry also told the states that opening of private clinics and nursing homes must be ensured by all.

Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla wrote the states a day after Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba held a video conference with Chief Secretaries and Health Secretaries of all the states and Union Territories.

The centre’s note also comes hours ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s video conference with Chief Ministers this afternoon on the coronavirus crisis – the fifth such virtual meet in the last two months.

At yesterday’s meeting with the Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba, sources said a lot of states raised objections to the red, green and orange zone markings, saying with the way the number of cases are rising in districts with the return of migrants, most of the districts will come under red zone.

Several states argued that this will make a return to normalcy difficult and wanted a calibrated way to lift the lockdown.